You Chose to Let Me Down
by WalkingTravesty94
Summary: Tom and Dougie are brothers who live with their dad, Fletch. Danny and Harry are their cousins from Bolton and are staying with them in Essex for the summer as the boys have formed a band. A wild party leaves the boys in deep trouble, and brings some unexpected revelations from the boys' past. Rated T just in case. My first fanfic, so please be nice HAHA.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: OK, so I'll try not to ramble. Basically I wrote the first few chapters of this a while ago but never had the courage to put it up. But thanks to some encouragement from McFlyer1 I've been persuaded. So anyway, I'll post the first few chapters now. I hope it's not rubbish, no-one's ever read anything I've written before so it might be awful, let's hope not. So yeah, my first fanfic... Please Review to let me know if it's worth carrying on with haha :)**

You chose to let me down...

Chapter 1

**Danny's POV**

Living with your uncle who's a band manager has many perks. Firstly, if we record some songs we're pretty much guaranteed a record deal. But even better, he has to spend a lot of time away for business which means no parents in the house for nights on end... Which means PARTY! Tonight was one of those nights.

"Seriously, mate... How are you gonna explain that one to your dad?" I asked Tom, the four of us staring wide-eyed at the pile of wood on the floor that once was a coffee table.

"I...shit, I don't know" Tom replied, sucking in a breath and running his hands through his hair.

"We could... err... say that..." Harry stammered searching the room for an answer. "...Nope sorry man, I got nothing either" he said, looking apologetically at Tom.

"Still, at least it was a good night, right guys?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Tom looked up from the broken table and a broad smile appeared on his face. "Hell yeah, mate." He laughed, memories of the legendary party crossing his mind. "It was mental. Never gonna forget that one!" Harry laughed too and I couldn't help but grin. It had been a good night.

"Guys...?" A small voice said. It was the first time Dougie had spoken since the boys had discovered the broken table and decided to call it a night with the party. "What's dad gonna say when he sees the state of the house?" He laughed nervously, looking around at the empty bottles and cans, and pizza boxes strewn across the living room and up the stairs. But then his expression became pained and almost scared once more. He was the youngest of us, only 16, and he was quite shy at the best of times.

I stopped smiling as the reality hit me. We were gonna be in so much trouble.

"He's not... Because we're gonna get this cleaned up before he gets home. He's not due back until tomorrow night anyway, and we can come up with a reasonable explanation for the state of the table by then." Tom said, taking charge, trying to convince himself more than anyone. Dougie still didn't look convinced, but there was no other option but to do as Tom had suggested.

We started the never-ending job of tidying the house, there were slices of mangled pizza everywhere, and empty bottles covered every surface. A little while later Harry came out of the downstairs bathroom with a mixture of confusion and disgust on his face, carrying what looked like a pregnancy test at arm's length.

"Err, guys?" He started.

"Oh yeah... That's mine, guys, I'm sorry I was gonna tell you, but I didn't know how to. I'm pregnant..." I said, looking deadly serious before a wide grin spread across my face, and a glint appeared in my eye. The other three stood there stunned for a second, before falling about laughing at my wit.

"Trust you, Danny" Tom sighed, still clutching his sides from the pain of laughing too hard. After a minute he calmed down. "Seriously though, I wonder whose it is and what it's doing in here" he said.

"I don't even wanna know" Dougie piped up, and the rest of us burst into fits of laughter again.

The next thing we heard was enough to stop us laughing immediately, however. There was a bang as a door slammed shut, followed by a loud "WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD HAS HAPPENED IN HERE! THOMAS, DOUGIE?" Fletch was home, and he sounded angry... very angry.

We all stood there, wide-eyed and too scared to move. Loud footsteps could be heard coming down the hall towards the living room. We looked at each other, searching each others' eyes for some sort of help, but to no avail.

Tom looked at Harry, then back to me and Dougie. "Run!" He whispered. He grabbed mine and Dougie's jacket hoods, pulling us in the direction of the back door as Fletch appeared in the doorway at the other end of the room. He let go as he flew out of the back door behind Harry. I followed quickly behind, needing no more prompting than the maniacal look on Fletch's usually laid-back face.

We ran and ran, for what felt like ages, until we reached the park that we spent so much of our free time in, writing songs and just mucking about. I doubled over, gasping for breath and fell to the ground in a heap of laughter. Tom fell down next to me, laughing too.

"Quality night, mate" I said. "This is gonna go down in history, I swear."

But my broad smile quickly vanished at the next words I heard.

"Guys," Harry started, "where's Doug?"

...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Dougie's POV**

Tom let go of my jacket and disappeared out of the back door behind Harry. Danny was right behind them, and I momentarily caught sight of my dad's face, now purple with rage. I took a second to breathe then hurtled after the other three, but I was too slow. My dad had made his way across the room by then and his large hands closed around the hood of my jacket, pulling me back. I tried to break free, but he held my arm tightly and turned me around to face him.

"I think you should try and explain to me, what ON EARTH has happened to my house!" he bellowed. The first thing I noticed was that he had been drinking. _'So much for a work trip'_, I thought.

"Well... w-w-we sort of h-had a p-p-party..." I stammered, and stared at the floor.

"A party, huh? I never would have guessed!" he snarled, his reply practically dripping with sarcasm.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the legs that used to belong to the coffee table. His favourite coffee table. Mum's favourite coffee table. My heart skipped a beat when I realised he hadn't noticed the damage yet.

He must have seen me glance over at the wreckage, as his eyes followed my gaze and rested upon the sorry-looking heap. Anger flashed through his eyes and I knew I had to act fast.

"Dad, I'm s-" but I was cut off by a sudden sharp pain as his fist connected with my jaw. I fell back, completely shocked. _'My dad... Had just... Hit me'_. Tears stung my eyes, but they didn't have the chance to fall as my father dragged me up off of the floor and stared right into my eyes. There was no semblance of love or forgiveness to be seen, only hatred in those dark brown eyes.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, but-" I was stopped again as his fist connected this time with my ribs causing me to yelp in pain and stagger backwards into the wall. I slid down the cool surface clutching my stomach. I could already feel my eye swelling up and I was fighting back tears, not wanting to give my dad anything else to be mad about.

I watched, my body trembling uncontrollably, as my dad stumbled over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a large bottle of bourbon and a glass. '_Great_,' I thought, _'alcohol was the last thing this situation needed_.' He poured himself a large glass which he drank quickly and proceeded to pour another. I sniffed from the other side of the room and he turned to me looking angry.

"I trusted you, and this is what you do. You throw it back in my face." His voice was low and serious. I had never seen him like this before. "And then, not only do you disrespect me, but you disrespect your mother too by breaking her things."

"Dad," I pleaded, "We didn't mean anything like this to happen, I swear. I don't even know how it happened, but it's just a table after all." _Wrong move_.

The next thing I knew, the glass my dad had been holding was hurtling towards me. I froze in shock, and it smashed against the wall just centimetres away from my head. I was too stunned to move, let alone speak. The eerie silence was broken moments later by a familiar voice.

"You bastard! Leave him alone!" It was Tom's voice. I had never been so relieved.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Tom's POV**

"Shit... I thought he was right behind me!" Danny said, still gasping for breath. "He was when we left the house."

Harry looked at me apologetically, unsure of what to do.

"We have to go back, guys. We can't just leave him alone." I said, my voice was shaking as I spoke but I didn't know why.

"You're right, mate" Harry agreed.

"Guys, why are you worried? He'll be fine. Fletch will know it wasn't his idea." Danny reasoned.

"Yeah, but he will be angry and Doug doesn't deserve the lecture on his own." I said, and turned to start walking back to the house. The others followed and a few minutes later we walking back up the garden path to the front door.

I let us in, my heart rate a little fast in anticipation of my dad's anger. Sure, he would be angry for a while but he'd get over it, right? He would just ground us or something and make us clean up and it would be forgotten. I hoped.

But my hope was soon crushed as I heard a loud smash coming from the living room. My eyes wide in confusion, I led the other guys into the room. Nothing could have prepared me for the heart-breaking sight I saw.

My dad was standing over my brother, his face still purple with rage and a half empty bottle of bourbon in his hand. _'God, no'_ I thought. _'Not dad too.'_ Dougie was cowering against the wall, his legs pulled in to his chest and his face buried in his hands. His small body was shaking slightly, and realization set in as I saw the broken shards of glass all around him. Those shards were once a glass, and no doubt used to be in my dad's hand.

My hands balled into fists as anger rose in me. "You Bastard! Leave him alone!' I yelled, close to tears but so angry at the same time.

Danny and Harry stood in the doorway looking lost and scared. At the sound of my voice Dougie looked up slightly. His eyes were red and the left one was swelling up. There were tears running down his cheeks. He looked so small and vulnerable, and so relieved to see us.

My outburst didn't seem to impress my dad much, though. He turned to me, his eyes wild with anger. It was so unlike him, I was sure it was all the alcohol talking. He started to walk towards me and stopped mere centimetres away from me. I didn't realise it but I was shaking now, too. I stared at the floor, willing this to all be a dream and for me to wake up in a minute in my room and laugh about my strange dreams. It didn't happen though. Instead my dad just stared at me and whispered dangerously quietly, "What did you just say to me?" His large hand grasped my jaw and pulled my head up to face him.

"I-I'm sorry, sir" I said back, my voice barely audible.

"You boys are pathetic!" He spat, glancing back at Dougie then me. He let go of me roughly, my skin already feeling bruised where his strong fingers had been. And then he was gone. He staggered out of the house, the bottle of bourbon in his hand still. Slowly and silently I let out the breath I hadn't even been aware I was holding.

The moment he was gone I ran to my brother who was still shaking on the floor, his face still buried in his hands. I knelt beside him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling his head down against my chest. "I'm sorry, Doug. I'm so sorry." I whispered soothingly, holding him close.

We stayed like that for a while, I couldn't bring myself to let go. Huge sobs racked his whole body. My eyes were filled with tears too. I had no idea how my dad could do something so awful, especially after everything we had all been through. I had almost forgotten Danny and Harry were there, until Harry spoke ever so softly.

"Danny, could you go get a couple of glasses of water?" Danny nodded and headed to the kitchen. "I think we should get you two upstairs and out of this room. There's glass everywhere..." he continued, looking back at me. I slowly pulled away from Dougie and stood up carefully to avoid the broken glass. He was still crying, though not as much anymore. He just seemed to be in shock now.

Harry and I took Dougie's hands and helped him up. He was still shaking and wobbled slightly as he stood. I put my arm around his shoulders and with Harry's help we climbed the stairs and crossed the landing to the bathroom. Setting Dougie down on the edge of the bath, I wetted a cloth and used it to gently wipe away the blood on his face from when dad had hit him. Harry helped Dougie out of his blood-stained t-shirt before we led him back to his bedroom.

Danny followed closely behind carrying some water and lingered in the doorway of Dougie's room, unsure of what to say or do.

"We'll give you guys some privacy" Harry said with a sympathetic smile, before ushering Danny out of the room with him.

I gently pulled Dougie's shoes off as he fell down onto the bed, his eyes still glazed and distant. "You should try to get some sleep, mate" I whispered, resting my hand comfortingly on his shoulder. I pulled the blanket up around him. "You know where I am if you need anything."

Dougie's eyes grew wide with fear as I turned to leave the room after Harry and Danny. "Tom?" he croaked, the pain that could be heard in his voice broke my heart all over again. "Please don't leave." His eyes filled with fresh tears and he started shaking again.

Tears stung my eyes too, and I sat back down on the bed beside him. "I won't ever leave you, Dougie. Not ever, I promise." A single tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. I laid down with my head against the headboard and rested a comforting hand on Dougie's arm. He relaxed slightly and I felt his breathing become heavier and more even as he drifted to sleep.

I closed my eyes too, but sleep was evading me. There were too many things going on in my head to even consider sleeping. This was going to be a long night.

…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Harry's POV**

I left Tom and Dougie to have some time to themselves, I felt they needed it after the night they'd had. I steered a very confused looking Danny into the spare bedroom and shut the door.

"Harry, what's going on? I don't-" Danny began, but I shushed him and gestured for him to sit on the bed.

"I don't know, mate. But we need to give them some space for now, ok?" I said, looking at him seriously.

"Is Doug alright?" Danny figured he already knew the answer, but he didn't know what else to say. "Should we call dad?" He sounded quite scared.

"No, we don't need to go and worry mum and dad right now. I'm sure Dougie'll be fine in the morning, mate. It was just a shock I think." I didn't know who I was trying more to convince.

I told Danny to get some sleep, and that I'd be back in a few minutes. I wanted to check on Tom and Dougie. I crept along the hallway and hovered by the door to Dougie's room. Looking in I could see that Dougie was sleeping, though there were still tear tracks on his cheeks. Tom looked tired and his face was contorted into a confused and upset expression. He was just staring at the wall opposite the bed.

I stepped further into the doorway, enough so Tom could see me. He looked round and tried to smile at me but I could see the hurt in his eyes and his smile faltered slightly. "How is he?" I asked, gesturing towards the now sleeping Dougie.

"He'll be ok, it was just a shock for him I guess" Tom tried to reassure me.

I nodded and looked at him sympathetically. "And how are you? This can't be easy on you either" I moved further into the room and leant against the chest of drawers.

"I'm fine" Tom began, but his voice cracked slightly and I could see in his eyes he was trying to hold back tears.

"No, you're not. You're not fine at all, mate" I said, slowly moving to sit beside him on the bed. I rested a hand on his arm and looked up at him to see his face crumpled with sadness. It was horrible to witness. He looked away quickly but I could already see the tears falling down his cheeks. I pulled him into a tight hug and rubbed comforting circles on his back as he sobbed quietly into my shoulder.

After a while he seemed to calm down a bit. He pulled away slowly and looked at me, smiling sadly. Something didn't add up here. I know it was traumatic, but I didn't understand why the two seemed so haunted by the evening's events.

"Tom?" I began slowly. He looked at me, waiting, as if he knew what was coming. "There's more to this isn't there? You're not this upset over just what happened with your dad, right?" He nodded slowly and looked down at his sleeping brother, tears stinging his eyes once more.

"It's more than just tonight, yeah," he started, his voice low and wobbling slightly. "Our mum, she... she was an alcoholic, Harry… for ages before she died, and it eventually killed her."

My face must have said it all because before I had time to respond he had started speaking again.

"I know what you're thinking. But she died in a car crash? Yeah, she did, but it was her fault. She had been drinking. Just like she had been for weeks, maybe even months before that. She and dad had been arguing non-stop and she did nothing but shout at me and Doug. Then one day, she had a little too much to drink and she hit Dougie. All he did was forget to take out the trash." He paused for a minute, letting me absorb the information. My mind was reeling. _Aunt Jane? She had done that to her own son?_ Tom continued, still speaking quietly so as not to wake Dougie.

"It got worse, she started drinking more and... hitting us more often..." his voice cracked slightly at the admission, "Even when we hadn't done anything wrong. Dad eventually found out about it, and confronted her and she flipped out." His eyes glazed over as he spoke. "Dougie ended up in the emergency room that night: he needed stitches from where her ring had caught him as she hit him. She left in her car after she saw the blood and the look on his face. That was the night she... died." He finished, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. There were tears in my eyes now too, I couldn't believe such an awful thing could have happened to my cousins, and nobody had noticed it.

"Tom, I'm so sorry" I began, though I knew only too well that my words could never make it better. I gripped his hand in mine and wiped my eyes with my other: I needed to stay strong for them. He sniffed, wiped his eyes and leant back against the headboard again.

I kept my eyes locked on him, shifting back to lean against the end board of the bed. For what felt like ages we just sat in silence, Tom continually checking on his sleeping brother.

Exhaustion began to wash over me and I could feel my eyelids drooping, as we're Tom's. Just as I was about to fall asleep I felt somebody move suddenly and sharply next to me. My eyes snapped open to see Dougie thrashing about beside Tom, his face screwed up in pain and fear.

"NO, STOP... PLEASE" he shouted, still fast asleep. "DAD, NO! PLEASE! AHHH"

Tom was shaking his shoulders, shouting his name in an attempt to wake him. His eyes were filled with fear too. I just sat there, helpless and unsure what to do.

…


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed... the reviews really mean a lot and they make me happy :D Also, (Crash Solar x - thanks for reviewing btw) no don't worry this story isn't going to be a 'slash' fic... (I don't have a problem with them either way, but yeah... this one isn't going to be one).**

**Finally, I realized the other day I never put a disclaimer at the start... So,**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own McFly (as much as I wish I could) I only own the storyline ;) **

**Right, think that's about all... I shall now shut up ;)**

Chapter 5

**Danny's POV**

Somebody was shouting. It sounded far away, but close at the same time. Crazy, I know, but anything makes sense when you're asleep. I slowly came around and I realized the shouting wasn't in my dream. It was very much a reality, and it was coming from Dougie's room. Ripping back the covers, I bolted down the corridor in the direction of the noise.

I stopped in the doorway of the room and watched in horror as Tom frantically shook his brother's thrashing body trying to wake him. All of a sudden the screaming stopped and Dougie sat bolt upright, his breathing fast and ragged. His eyes darted around the room, tears cascading down his cheeks as he caught sight of his brother. His breathing slowed a little and he crumpled into Tom's awaiting arms, sobs still causing his entire body to shake.

It was then that I realized there were tears in my eyes too. I was scared. I shifted my weight to my other foot and leant against the doorframe. The floorboard creaked slightly as I did, and the three boys heads whipped around at the sound. Relief washed over their faces when they saw me, and I instantly felt guilty - they must have thought my uncle had returned.

Harry got up and came over to where I was standing. "Dan, you should go back to bed, okay?"

"But Harry, I'm-" He cut me off, putting his hand firmly on my shoulder.

"Danny, go back to sleep. There's nothing you can do here. You'll only cause more harm than good." He was tired and hadn't really thought about how his words had sounded, but they still hurt. A lot. I backed out of the room, a lump forming in my throat, and headed back to my room. I collapsed onto my bed and choked back a small sob. I didn't understand what was going on, how had everything become so messed up in one night? All I wanted to do was be there for Dougie, but it didn't all make sense. I felt as if there were a lot of things I wasn't being told.

I sat in the corner of the bed, my head resting against the cool wall, and pulled my knees in to my chest. Dragging the covers up to my shoulders, I sighed and let the tears fall freely and silently.

…

**Dougie's POV**

I was vaguely aware of Harry and Danny talking somewhere in the distance, but my head was reeling with thoughts of my dream. Tom had his strong arms around me and I could feel tears on my cheeks still. It had felt so real, almost like when mum was here. I shivered at the memory and Tom pulled the blanket up further around me, protecting me from the cold and the evening's events.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while; the only sound to be heard was the soft beat Harry was subconsciously tapping on the floor by his leg with his fingers. It was quite soothing, and I must have drifted off to sleep again at some point. I woke slowly, confused at first as to why Tom was hugging me, but I soon remembered. Looking around slightly I could see Harry sitting in the hallway outside my door, his head and arms resting on his knees. I sighed deeply and shuffled upright next to Tom. He was watching me, a mixture of tiredness and sadness on his face. He blinked a few times and tried to look more awake when he saw me looking at him.

"Doug, do you want to watch a movie or something?" He seemed at a loss for what else to say. I smiled at his question; _that is such a typical Tom reaction_. I figured he was on edge as well from the evening's events, and maybe the movie was as much for his benefit as mine.

"Yeah, what d'you want to watch? Back to the future?" I suggested quietly, seeing the box lying open alongside my TV.

He smiled a little at this, "Sounds good." He looked across to the door to where Harry was still sitting. "Harry, want to watch a film?"

He looked up abruptly, hearing his name. His eyes were bloodshot and tired-looking. "Err... Maybe in a bit, I have to check Danny's ok first. I think he's a bit freaked by this." He stood up slowly and gave us a weak smile before disappearing from our view.

Tom got up and made his way over to the TV, stopping just before he reached it and staring at something. I was about to say something when he grabbed a photo, which I recognised to be the one of both of us and mum and dad years ago at a beach, back when we were all happy. He placed it face down on the dresser and took a deep breath, before continuing to put the DVD in the player.

I rolled over and grabbed the remote from the floor on the other side of my bed, and handed it to Tom. He silently selected English and got back into the bed beside me. That was weird, he usually made some sort of joke about "what language shall we watch it in this time?" knowing we both knew the film word-for-word anyway. He really was more upset than he was letting on. I pulled the blankets up around us both again as the opening titles appeared on the screen. This was one of my favourite movies, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't concentrate on it. My mind was still spinning with images of my dad and some of my mum too, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen now?

…

**AN: Sorry it's a bit short, I've been insanely busy these past few weeks but school is basically almost finished (so we have barely any work :D ) so hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly now and they will be longer/better :) **

**PLEASE REVIEW – It makes me smile :) xx**


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